Monday, January 31, 2011

In case anyone has been living in a cave for the past couple of days, there are predictions of a storm of "historic proportions" for a significant part of the country over the next few days. It's, like, the fifth or sixth storm I've seen since spending a good part of Christmas Day trying to get around the storm engulfing Atlanta at the time. Perhaps not surprisingly, I'm scheduled to travel right through thew middle of it.

I'm supposed to leave here on Wednesday to attend Creating Change in Minneapolis. The low in Minneapolis that day is supposed to be -15, and the high will be 8. But the fact that Chicago is our layover and it's already under a blizzard watch, expecting a foot and half or more of snow over the next couple of days, means that the entire thing is unlikely to happen. United has already issued a travel waiver for Feb. 1-3 so I'd be surprised if I don't sit this one out.

That's not to say all is going to be rosy here, though. Depending on how this thing tracks they're predicting different amounts of snow, freezing rain and ice, and just plain rain - followed by a blast of frigid air. I dunno - I'd be happy to hibernate for the next few days. Some days it's all I can do to point my car downtown in the morning instead of heading west. But I came here for a reason and my car always somehow ends up at my office.

Baby steps. That's how it happens....

I was recently reminded of something I read early in my own transition that's as appropriate today as it ever was. It's titled "Tripping the Light Fantastic: Staying Sane and Whole While in Transition" by Dallas Denny. I can't even count how many times I read that - it was light at the end of the tunnel. It was a map, or at least some direction, in what so often seemed like uncharted, wild, hostile, territory. Anyway - it's nice to revisit where you've come from from time to time. This is one of the things that helps me to do that....

One of the things in that essay was about keeping your sense of humor. But some things just aren't funny. They're offensive. They're mean spirited, ignorant, and it's especially unfortunate when people who say or do this stuff should know better. One of these things is the Saturday Night Live "spoof" from this past weekend.

There's already noise about it (see GLAAD's Call to Action here) and the press about it has made it to the "prestigious newspapers" (details here), but that only makes more people aware of it. The damage is done. Again. And people wonder why there is bullying and other dire outcomes? If this had been a "spoof" about black people or Muslims it never would have made it to the airwaves. But whoever approved this is as guilty as whoever thought of it. It's maddening.

Anyway - it's time to get ready for bed. I don't know what to expect outside when I wake up. Snow. Cold. Ice. Yuck. But it's like one of those metaphors for life. You just plow through it sometimes because you have to. And I have to, so I will.